Source: American Energy, Inc.

Release: 5,388 gallons (estimated) of gasoline.

Primary injury:

The spill killed hundreds of fish in a four mile reach below the site, including wild juvenile Chinook salmon and steelhead. Wild steelhead in the Warm Springs River system are included in the Middle Columbia Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU). This population of steelhead was listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act on March 25, 1999 (64 FR 14517). The area affected by the spill is an important spawning and rearing area for anadromous fishes in Beaver Creek. Approximately 5,000 dead fish were collected in the days following the spill. Juvenile Chinook salmon and steelhead were impacted indirectly (reduced growth and survival) due to reduced quality of rearing habitat associated with the loss of prey resources (aquatic macroinvertebrates) from the spill, and due to loss of production from future generations.

The trustees, in cooperation with the responsible parties and their representatives, agreed to simplify the potentially long-term and expensive damage assessment process by using currently available information to identify resource impacts associated with the spill. Although many natural resources and resource services were potentially injured as a result of the spill (surface water, benthic macroinvertebrates, resident fish and amphibians, cultural resources, and loss of recreational, ceremonial and subsistence fishing opportunity), the trustees agreed to focus the assessment on impacts to anadromous fishes, including Chinook salmon (both hatchery and wild populations) and steelhead.